Quotes by William Goldman

About William Goldman:

William Goldman is an American novelist, playwright, and screenwriter. He came to prominence in the 1950s as a novelist, before turning to writing for film. He has won two Academy Awards for his screenplays, first for the western Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) and again for All the President's Men (1976), about journalists who broke the Watergate scandal of President Richard Nixon. Both films starred Robert Redford.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

You don't want to be rude but you have to be careful - there are a lot of strange people out there. (Goldman attributes this quote to Cliff Robertson.)

William Goldman

Nobody knows anything...... Not one person in the entire motion picture field knows for a certainty what's going to work. Every time out it's a guess and, if you're lucky, an educated one.

William Goldman

By day it is filled with boat traffic - water buses, delivery boats, gondolas - if something floats and it's in Venice, it moves along the Grand Canal. And by daylight it is one of the glories of the Earth. But at night, especially when the moon i...

William Goldman

How can the removal of beauty from a world so lacking in beauty be anything but tragic?

William Goldman

It must have been fifty seconds before Doc died. Long time.

William Goldman

Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who tells you differently is selling something.

William Goldman

Life isn't fair, it's just fairer than death, that's all.

William Goldman

Just because you're beautiful and perfect, it's made you conceited.

William Goldman

He held up a book then. “I'm going to read it to you for relax.” “Does it have any sports in it?” “Fencing. Fighting. Torture. Poison. True Love. Hate. Revenge. Giants. Hunters. Bad men. Good men. Beautifulest Ladies. Snakes. Spiders... Pai...

William Goldman

I am as devoted to adventure now as then, and that’s never going to stop.

William Goldman

No. Not yet. A craftsman only. But I dream to be an artist. I pray that someday, if I work with enough care, if I am very very lucky, I will make a weapon that is a work of art. Call me an artist then, and I will answer.

William Goldman

You had to admire a guy who called his own new book a classic before it was published and anyone else had a chance to read it.

William Goldman

The Princess Bride S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure You had to admire a guy who called his own new book a classic before it was published and anyone had a chance to read it.

William Goldman

Enough about my beauty," Buttercup said. "Everybody always talks about how beautiful I am. I've got a mind, Westley. Talk about that.

William Goldman

When I left you," he whispered, "you were already more beautiful than anything I dared to dream. In our years apart, my imaginings did their best to improve on your perfection. At night, your face was forever behind my eyes. And now I see that that v...

William Goldman

When I was your age, television was called books.

William Goldman

When was the last time you read a book? The truth now. And picture books don't count-I mean something with print in it.

William Goldman

I mean, I really do think that love is the best thing in the world, except for cough drops. But I also have to say, for the umpty-umpth time, that life isn't fair. It's just fairer than death, that's all.

William Goldman

The tears that kept Buttercup company the remainder of the day were not at all like those that had blinded her into the tree trunk. Those were noisy and hot; they pulsed. These were silent and steady and all they did was remind her that she wasn’t ...

William Goldman

I've been saying it so long to you, you just wouldn't listen. Every time you said 'Farm Boy do this' you thought I was answering 'As you wish' but that's only because you were hearing wrong. 'I love you' was what it was, but you never heard.

William Goldman

Author Bio

  • NameWilliam Goldman
  • DescriptionAmerican novelist, screenwriter and playwright
  • BornAugust 12, 1931
  • CountryUnited States Of America
  • ProfessionWriter; Novelist; Playwright; Screenwriter
  • WorksDread Pirate Roberts
  • AwardsAcademy Award For Best Writing (Original Screenplay); Writers Guild Of America Award